YEAR: 2008

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 04

STATE: Missouri

COUNTY: Barry County

LOCATION DETAILS: on flat creek past EE hwy. about 2 miles

NEAREST TOWN: cape fair

NEAREST ROAD: EE Hwy

OBSERVED: I’m always doing outdoor activities, floating, camping, hiking and recently I’ve had some strange encounters. First, I like to go conservation areas frequently, and at wire road conservation area off of Grisham ford rd. In Crane, I was there with a friend it was just after sunset when something would throw very large rocks into the Crane creek. that’s all it consisted of is splashing into the creek. It sounds like bowling ball sized rocks being thrown into the water making not only a splash but a “ker-plunk” noise. This really made me and my friend wonder what was making this noise. We were very open-minded about what could cause this noise and it happened on multiple occasions, all shortly after sunset when no one else was at the conservation area. We told several people about this and of course everyone would say its probably just ducks, but like I said the objects in the water were very large making a “ker-plunk” noise like a cannon ball.
Just as we finally had given up on the search for the cause of the splashing, months had gone by and me and the same friend went on a float trip. It happened to be the forth of July in 2008. We planned to float in my canoe on Flat creek from Jenkins bridge all the way to a low water bridge on flat creek road (a very long float). The float started about mid-day and about half way through the float is was very dark and cloudy so no moon light. It was just pitch dark on the creek and at a slow deep section of the creek we were just quietly floating along not talking when it seemed like we startled something very large about 20ft. Away. It was just standing in the edge of the creek when we startled it, so it stepped out of the creek. You could hear one leg pull out the water followed by one more, and it displaced a lot of water making waves. It made a couple more steps up on land into a very forested area. Me and my friend were stunned, just remaining dead silent and starring at the area were the noise originated. Then, a very large rock was thrown within 5ft. Of the boat, exactly like the occurrences in Crane. Even though we never saw the creature, It was very clear that it was a large bipedal creature because of the very long strides out of the deep water. It seems that we startled it, so it walked just out of sight not really frightened though, then it threw a rock to warn us to get away.

OTHER WITNESSES: one witness

TIME AND CONDITIONS: about 10pm
cloudy, very dark

ENVIRONMENT: river surrounded by dense forest
slow deep area of river

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

On 03/04/2010 I interviewed one of the witnesses who was present during the reported activities, though he was not the person who submitted the report. The witness who filed the report recently joined the military and is presently unavailable for interview. I found the interviewed witness to be very credible in his account of the incidents which follow. The activity took place at two locations separated by approximately 10 or 12 miles.

The first series of events happened during the witnesses’ visits to the Wire Road Conservation Area (WRCA) which they accessed from Grisham Ford Road near the town of Crane, in Stone County, Missouri. Crane Creek runs through the WRCA. The witnesses visited the WRCA in order to jog on the trails that loop through the park. Their visits were always in the late afternoon or early evening. While jogging, the witnesses began to hear the sound of large objects falling into the creek water and making a loud “ker-plung” noise, characteristic of large rocks entering water in free fall. They returned to the area many times beginning in the Spring of 2006 and subsequently throughout the years until their last visit in 2008. They would sometimes bring other persons with them, hopeful that another person would experience the incidents. No rocks were ever thrown when the witnesses were accompanied by guests. The witnesses experienced the rock throwing on at least 10 different occasions and always right after sunset.

The witnesses were able to identify the specific rocks which had be thrown into the creek and estimated them to weigh at least 35 lbs. The witnesses never felt as through the rocks were being thrown at them and never had any fear of being hit by a rock. The nearest thrown rock landed approximately 20 yards from the witnesses. The witnesses were perplexed at first by what might be the source of the rock throwing. Their first thought was that maybe some person was hiding in the woods on the other side of the creek, throwing the rocks. The witnesses began to employ a strategy of immediately running towards the area that they believed the rock projectiles originated from but never saw any humans.

The witnesses also investigated the surrounding region outside of the conservation area by car after they experienced the rock throwing expecting to discover a human source for the strange activity. They never observed any other human activity in the area surrounding the WRCA, nor any other cars in the WRCA parking lot, coincident with the rock throwing incidents. The witnesses discussed the incidents with other persons whom they knew to have frequented the WRCA but no additional witnesses to the phenomenon have emerged. Due to the extraordinary strength which would be required to propel the heavy rocks over the distance they traveled and the absence of any other people at the WRCA during the time of the incidents the witnesses eventually ruled out a human source. Common native MO animals were also eliminated as a source of the rocks. The witness does not recall any distinct odors during the incidents but did hear what he described as a deep roar originating from at least ½ mile away to the west of the WRCA after one such incident.

The same witnesses experienced another significant event while on an overnight float trip on Flat Creek, in Barry County, Missouri during the summer of 2008. They entered the creek at an old iron bridge near Jenkins, MO at around 3:00 p.m. and exited the creek, east of there, at Flat Creek Road. The witness estimates that the entire float trip lasted approximately 11 hours. The witnesses did not bring flashlights with on their canoe trip because they hadn't been on this section of the creek prior and were unprepared for how long the float would last or that it would continue so long after dark. It was a warm evening, low visibility and overcast. There was no moon and very little light. The witnesses had trouble navigating their canoe due to the extreme darkness and consequently had run into the bank of the creek at least three times. The current was weak and progress was slow.

About half way through the trip they came around a bend in the creek and immediately heard something on two legs exit the creek and onto the bank. The witness estimated their distance from the subject to be approximately 5 ft at the point when they first identified the sound of movement in the water. The subject moved through the water at a speed somewhere between a brisk walk and a run. He estimated the water depth where the subject was first identified at about 3 feet. The witness recalled hearing water being displaced by a very large mass moving through the creek accompanied by the sound of bipedal footsteps in the water. The footsteps sounded similar to an extremely heavy person plodding through shallow water. The movement of the subject exiting the water produced waves in the creek. It sounded “very big” and definitely bipedal. They eventually heard footsteps on the bank and then a large rock (35 lbs) was thrown into the creek landing near the canoe. The subject paused quietly on the bank for about one minute and then walked slowly uphill into the woods on two legs. They could hear the heavy weight of its footsteps and the movement and snapping of brush as it retreated from the creek. Due to the darkness the witness could not see the subject at all and, initially, had no idea anything was there until he heard movement in the water. During the incident the witness “didn’t move a muscle” because he was so afraid and because he was trying to listen for the subject. Both witnesses stopped paddling and the canoe seemed to be barely moving during the incident. The witnesses did nothing and said nothing for approximately ten minutes because they were “so afraid” as “it was very big.” No odors were noticed. Both witnesses returned to the spot of this encounter two weeks later but couldn’t find any prints or signs left by the subject. The witnesses have hunted from an early age and know the signs and sounds of typical wildlife of the region.

The factors which preclude the encountered subject from having been a person include: the remoteness/distance from human population; the strength required to throw such a rock; the very large mass of the subject; the subject’s ability to easily navigate very difficult terrain on a pitch black night without the aid of any light source; and the startling behavior of the subject. The reported bipedalism and rock throwing rules out common wildlife. The area is surrounded by dense forest that eventually yields to farm fields. Reports of encounters with a large hair covered biped have previously originated from this particular region. Rock throwing is a common observance associated with bigfoot encounters and corresponds to an intimidation or attention getting behavior. The roar heard in connection with the Crane Creek incidents can not be readily associated with any common wildlife of MO. Roars, specifically those with vocal depth and projection, have been circumstantially associated with bigfoot vocalizations.

The section of Flat Creek from which this report originated is located in the Mark Twain National Forest only a short distance from the Piney Creek Wilderness Area. The area is characterized by rugged karst topography consisting of uplifted mountains, sinkholes, caves, sheer rock face walls, with abundant natural springs and creeks which, like Flat Creek, all flow into Table Rock Lake (a fifty-two thousand acres man made lake encompassed by 800 miles of shoreline). The forest is composed of mixed hardwood, pine and cedar interspersed by grassy open glades and knobs. It is a very biologically rich ecology which supports abundant animal life including large predators such as black bear and mountain lion. Whitetail deer flourish in the Mark Twain National Forest, with the occasional elk wandering in from Arkansas (AR hosts a healthy reintroduced elk herd mere miles south of this sighting location). This area certainly has sufficient fresh water sources as well as the flora and fauna to support the diet of a large omnivore.

About BFRO Investigator G.E. Stade:

An experienced outdoorsman and naturalist. Mr. Stade attended the following BFRO Expeditions: 2008 & 2009 OK; 2008, 2009 & 2010 MO.

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